The newsroom of the Daily Planet was its usual chaos when they arrivedjust before noon. Perry, Clark noted, was on the phone in his office,arguing vigorously with someone in Accounting. He looked up as theycrossed the Pit toward Jimmy's desk, spoke a final pithy phrase to thehapless individual on the other end and hung up.

"Where's Carlin?" Lois whispered. Clark had to sympathize. He wouldn'tcare to have the psychiatrist zero in on him, either. He scanned theoffice with his x-ray vision. Arianna was also in her office, thetelephone receiver wedged between her shoulder and left ear, and wasmaking rapid notes on a sheet of paper.

"In her office. Hi, Chief."

"Clark, what in the name of the King happened to you two last night?"Perry demanded. "You said something about a bomb in your apartment?"

"Superman got rid of it," Lois said, as if that explained everything.Perry rolled his eyes.

"Some. Jimmy's been checking on some things for us." They stoppedbeside Jimmy's desk and the young computer expert looked up at them witha pleased grin.

"Hi, CK! I finished that research you asked for."

"Did you find out about ACL Corporation?"

Jimmy nodded. "And the other stuff you asked for this morning. ACLCorporation is a part of LexCorp that administers the annuity forLuthor's ex-wife, Mrs. A.C. Luthor. It's based in Jamaica, which is whythere wasn't any record of it here in the U.S."

"Good question," Jimmy said. "It gets better, though. I didn't have aname, but I started looking around and found out some other stuff thatmight have something to do with everything that's happening. There wasno record of the marriage at the Bureau of Vital Statistics, buteventually I dug up a wedding announcement that ran in the Planet tenyears ago. They were married on a ship in the Caribbean. I'm stilltrying to track down the ship's captain who performed the ceremony.Maybe we can find out more from him."

"Good idea," Clark said.

"Thanks. I did find out a little more, though. Luthor was juststarting to build LexCorp back then. He came into some money at thesame time he married, possibly from his wife. About seven months later,ACL Corp was incorporated to handle her annuity--as his divorcesettlement."

"Not exactly a long term relationship," Perry said.

"Apparently not." Clark felt a little sorry for the former Mrs. Luthor,though that was tempered by the knowledge that the woman could well bebehind some of the threats to Lois that had surfaced over the last fewdays.

"Do you have the name of the ship they were married on?" he asked.

"Yeah--uh--I wrote it down." Jimmy picked up a book that lay on hisdesk and removed a slip of paper from between the pages. "Yeah. Shewas the Sun Princess."

"I've got a few contacts I can ask," Clark said, "and you keep tryingfrom your end." He glanced at the book. "What's this? 'SubliminalAdvertising' by Arianna Carlin?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said. "I'm going to get Dr. Carlin to autograph it for meso I can give it to my mom for her birthday."

"Whatever happened to candy and flowers?" Perry asked.

"My mom's overweight and she has allergies," Jimmy said.

"Oh. Better give her the book."

"Yeah," Jimmy said. "Anyway, after I found out about Luthor's ex-wife,I started checking the archives for other announcements. Luthor's beenengaged to two different women in the last eight years."

"What happened to them?" Lois's voice sounded almost strangled.

"One of them died in a car accident. Her car skidded on an icy road androlled. She was killed instantly. The other one was killed when herapartment caught fire."

The elevator doors slid open at that moment and two men exited. Theydescended the ramp deliberately and approached the four persons atJimmy's desk. The man in the lead spoke.

"Lois Lane?"

"Yes?" Lois said.

"I'm Detective Ryder, Metropolis P.D." The man produced hisidentification. "Do you want to tell me where you were last nightaround three A.M.?"

Lois looked at Clark, then back at the detective. "I was in bed,asleep."

"Can anyone verify that?"

"What's this all about, Detective?" Clark asked.

Ryder didn't shift his gaze from Lois. "At three A.M. last night, aguard was assaulted outside Lex Luthor's penthouse by a woman he'sidentified as Ms. Lane."

"That's ridiculous," Lois said.

Ryder produced a photograph. "This picture was taken by a securitycamera outside the penthouse."

Lois and Clark looked at the photograph of Lois's double and then ateach other.

"As far as we can tell," Ryder continued, "the only item taken was anengagement ring valued at half a million dollars that Mr. Luthor hadpurchased three months ago. His butler, Mr. St. John, reported thetheft. Ms. Lane, you're under arrest for aggravated assault, breakingand entering, and grand theft."

He snapped a pair of handcuffs onto Lois's wrists. Clark caught Lois'seye, made the flying gesture, and headed for the steps, hand on histie. He hadn't expected this to happen quite so soon, but once again,the double had struck. He had to see Inspector Henderson at once.

********************

"Henderson sure took his time," Lois said, as she joined Clark and Perryat the front desk of the station. "Another minute and I'd have beenjudging a best tattoo contest."

"Sorry about that," Clark said. "Henderson was out when I called, andhis assistant was in a meeting. Superman had to track him down for me.Anyway, I brought your Jeep. It's parked outside."

"Are you sure you're okay, Lois?" Perry asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Chief--just really irritated," Lois said. She movedquickly aside to avoid a police officer who was wrestling a tattooed andbearded Superman protester towards a chair. "Oh, brother! This isreally getting ridiculous! These people need to get lives!"

"What in the name of Elvis has gotten into Metropolis?" Perry asked."Half the city seems to have lost its marbles!"

"No, only twenty percent," Clark said. "Lois and I have a theory aboutit, Chief. We think it's connected to Luthor, somehow."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" their boss asked rhetorically. "Anyway,Dr. Carlin is sure you're headed for a nervous breakdown, Lois. If youcome back to the Planet today she's gonna be after you to schedule anappointment. I just wanted to warn you."

"Great," Lois said. "When I get my hands on this woman, whoever she is,I'm going to break her neck. No, better, I'm going to stick her onArianna Carlin's couch for some serious psychoanalysis."

Perry snorted. "I don't blame you. Look, kids, I'm gonna head back tothe office. I'll drop the word that we bailed you out and Clark tookyou home for some rest."

"Tell me about it," Clark said. "Don't worry, Lois. We'll get to thebottom of it sooner or later."

They made their way across the room, dodging several more shoutingprotesters being escorted by officers of the law, and Clark held thedoor for Lois and Perry then followed them out. The crowd ofdemonstrators on the sidewalk had thickened considerably since thismorning, Lois saw. Most of them were behaving themselves, more or less,but a number were pushing and shoving at each other, and at unluckypassersby. One particularly obstreperous individual was struggling withtwo officers while one of them was cuffing him.

Perry, Clark and Lois descended the steps, and gave the crowd a wideberth. Lois read the signs; nothing original there that she could see."Free Luthor", one read, and another carried the "S" shield with a "no"symbol covering it. She shook her head as a voice bellowed louder thanthat of the other chanting protesters, "Free Luthor! Exile the alien!"and she saw Clark wince.

She put a hand on his arm. "Ignore it, Clark. They're just puppets."

"Hey! That's his girlfriend!" someone else, a woman's voice, screamed,and all at once bodies converged around them, pushing and shoving.Someone grabbed for her and got a handful of cloth. Lois knocked thehand away, but other hands grabbed, yanked and pushed, and the cries ofthe demonstrators became menacing. A violent shove made her lurchagainst Perry, who caught her.

"Back off!" Her boss's voice sounded uncharacteristically ferocious ashe faced down the offender, a tall, muscular youth wearing a leatherjacket and heavy work pants. The two of them glared at each other for along moment before the assailant stepped back. Clark moved in front ofthem, again beginning to gently, but firmly force his way through themass of human bodies. Perry and Lois followed in his wake.

When they reached open space, Perry removed his arm from around hershoulders. Lois turned to smile gratefully at him. "Thanks, Perry."

"No sweat, honey. Some of these young studs need a swift kick in therear if you ask me."

"I'll go along with that. I guess they didn't see my so-called'virtuoso performance' the other day."

"I guess not. Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. Clark and I will see if we can dig anything up away from theoffice. I don't really feel like facing Dr. Carlin right now."

"Don't worry about 'em," Perry told her. "They're a bunch of--" He bitoff the words. "I'm not going to say what they are, but they're notworth gettin' upset about."

"Thanks, Chief," she said.

Clark's cell phone chose that second to ring, and Clark, who hadremained uncharacteristically silent, answered. "Hello?" He listenedfor a minute. "Hi, Jim...You did? Where...? Right. Thanks. That wasgreat work." He shut off the phone. "Jimmy located the ship's captainwho married the Luthors. He's retired and living in a retirement homeright here in Metropolis."

"Then I'll leave you to get on with your work," Perry said. "Try not toget in too much trouble."

"Don't mention it, sweetie." They stopped next to the editor's car,parked in front of the Jeep. Perry got behind the wheel, waved to themand a moment later had pulled out into traffic.

Lois turned to Clark, who was looking sober. "Clark, what's thematter? You're not letting that bunch of idiots get to you, are you?"

He shook himself. "A little. I guess I shouldn't, huh?"

"Absolutely not!" She put her arms around him. "Alien or not, you'reone of the most human men I know, and the man I happen to love. Thoseprotesters are Luthor's puppets. He's doing something to their minds.We just have to figure out what, and how he's doing it."

He laughed softly. "How come you're always able to make me put thingsin perspective when they seem so overwhelming to me? I guess it justproves my instincts were right on target when I decided you were thewoman of my dreams."

"Really?"

"You better believe it."

*********************

The retirement home where Edward Keene, formerly Captain of the SunPrincess, resided had been decorated for Christmas. In the corner ofthe lounge a Christmas tree that stood a good twelve feet tall glitteredwith silver garlands and frosted ornaments. Dozens of tiny,multi-colored lights twinkled merrily, and Christmas music played softlyin the background.

Captain Keene was seated in an armchair by the picture window when theyentered the room and in his lap lay what appeared to be a photographalbum. The old man looked up with a smile on his round face. His hairwas white, his eyes blue and twinkling. If he'd had a beard he wouldhave looked exactly like one of the department store and street cornerSantas that abounded in Metropolis at this season of the year, Loisthought. As they approached, he rose to his feet.

"Ms. Lane and Mr. Kent?"

"Yes," Clark said. "Captain Keene?"

That's me," the old man said, cheerfully. "The kid I spoke to said youwanted to talk to me about Lex Luthor."

Clark shook hands with him. "Yes, we wanted to ask you about hiswedding. You performed the ceremony?"

"Yes." Captain Keene waved them to chairs. "I sure did. Of course--"He leaned back in his chair. "--Luthor wasn't anybody, then, but Icould tell he was a comer. And that bride of his, she was somethingspecial. Beautiful woman, and really built."

Lois smiled a little at the man's enthusiasm. "Do you remember hername?"

They all laughed. Captain Keene held up the album. "The kid I talkedto said you might want to see a picture." At their nods he opened thebook and began to flip through the pages. "I've got pictures of everycouple I ever married. Here we are."

He turned the album around to display the picture on the open page.Lois looked at the photograph and did a classic double take.

"You call him, I'll drive." Lois was almost surprised at how calm shefelt on the surface, but underneath anger was boiling. Arianna Carlinhad acted so concerned for her, so sympathetic--and all the time she'dbeen scheming against her. No more, though. The tables were about toturn.

They were still almost a block from the Daily Planet when both of themrealized that all was not as it should be. A crowd of people wasgathered in front of the Daily Planet Building, and persons wereemerging from every visible door, as fast as they could. Lois pulledthe Jeep into an empty spot by the curb, and they jumped out.

"Come on!" Clark began to run toward the Planet, Lois on his heels.

When they got closer, Lois could see the people fleeing the building hadtears streaming down their faces, many were coughing and gasping forbreath, all of them obviously in distress. Clark stopped and sniffed.

"I smell tear gas on their clothes. You stay here, Lois. I'll takecare of it and be right back."

"Go," she said.

He nodded to her and ran toward the Daily Planet, one hand on his tie.As he vanished through the revolving door, Lois saw her--the woman wholooked exactly like her ran past, apparently unaware of Lois's presence.

Lois hesitated for a moment, but the temptation was too much. She hadher cellular phone tucked into her shoulder bag. If she could find outwhere her double was headed, she could call Clark and perhaps they couldunravel at least part of this tangle.

She turned and followed.

Ahead a blue car, driven by someone who looked very much like Dr. Carlinfrom her perspective, pulled up to the curb. The double opened the reardoor and climbed in. The car pulled out immediately into traffic again,cutting off a pickup truck in the process, and joined the slowly movingstream of cars that were the precursors of rush hour.

Lois reached her Jeep, scrambled into the driver's seat and started theengine. Traffic was heavy, but she wasn't about to let the blue car getaway. Gritting her teeth, she nudged the nose of the Jeep into thesmall space left between the rear bumper of a compact car and the noseof a bright red sports model. Predictably, the driver slammed on hisbrakes when she cut him off, and delivered a clearly audible series ofimprecations to her back, but Lois didn't even glance around. All herattention was centered on her quarry. She was almost certain that thedriver of the blue car was Arianna Carlin. This time she was going toget some answers.

**********************

Following the blue car in her silver Jeep Cherokee without being noticedwas more difficult than she thought it would be in the heavy traffic,Lois discovered after a few moments. One blue car in the sea ofautomobiles would be easy to lose, but Lois's single-mindeddetermination was more of a help than she realized. She barely noticedit when she cut under the nose of a gasoline truck to beat the light atan intersection, or the dump truck bearing a load of gravel thatscreeched to a stop to avoid her, when she made a questionable left turnin front of a traffic light that was in the process of turning fromyellow to red. She had to stay back far enough that the occupants ofthe other car wouldn't notice her, but not so far back that she waslikely to lose them. It was harder than it might seem, until sherealized where they were going.

There was a short cut to Lex Tower that she knew would shave nearly fiveminutes off the trip. Mentally, she crossed her fingers. Her guess hadbetter be right, she told herself, and swung to the right at the nextintersection. Ten minutes later she pulled into the parking lot of theMoritomi Building and cut the engine, and a short time later she wasseated on a bus stop bench across the street from the entrance to LexTower's underground parking lot, watching the street from behind an opennewspaper.

In less than three minutes by her watch, she was rewarded. The blueFord turned the corner and eased into the underground lot of Lex Tower.

Lois debated. Apparently the car and its occupants were free to comeand go; the security guard hadn't stopped them for more than a cursoryglance. They would probably, she thought, go up the elevator thatreached the basement lot. How was she going to get in to follow them?

Well, if her double was familiar with Lex Tower, then they knew her.Her face was her passport. Lois stood up and headed briskly toward LexTower.

There was a side entrance not too far away, she knew from her manyprevious trips to this place, normally watched by a single guard. Loisheaded toward it as nonchalantly as she could.

The guard, she saw, was Ron; she'd spoken to him a few times. That wasa touch of bad luck because he knew Lois Lane, but she summoned thebravado that had helped her bluff her way through many worse situationsand walked briskly up to the entrance, barely glancing at the man.

He nodded to her and opened the door without a word. Lois entered thebuilding casually, only releasing her breath once more when the doorclosed behind her.

Her next goal was the elevator. She needed to see where Dr. Carlin andthe double were going.

The ground floor entrance to the elevator that came up from theunderground lot was located in one of the side hallways. Lois made herway toward it as quickly as she could without appearing hurried or doinganything to attract attention. It was warm inside Lex Tower. Sheunbuttoned her coat as she walked, with a businesslike stride, towardher goal. Much to her relief, no one looked at her, or paid her theslightest attention. As she reached the hallway in question, shechecked before entering it.

It was a good thing she did, she thought. Two persons were waiting bythe doors; one was an athletic-appearing young woman with short, blondhair. The other was Nigel St. John. They stood side by side withoutspeaking, facing the elevator doors, and as she watched, the doorsopened. The two entered without a word.

As soon as they closed, Lois moved quickly toward the elevator. Two menin business suits passed her, never glancing in her direction. Shehalted before her goal and watched the indicator as it crept steadilyupward, marking the ascent of the elevator to the floor just beneathLex's penthouse itself, and stopped.

That must be it, she thought, and tried to quell the pounding of herheart. She had to be calm and collected about this, she knew. No onemust guess that she was not the double. Briefly, the irony of thesituation occurred to her; up until now the double had been pretendingto be her. Now the situation was reversed.

Well, now what? It wasn't safe to use this elevator. She could verywell run into someone who would know the difference, or something elsecould give her presence away. But this wasn't the only elevator in thebuilding; far from it. In fact, there was one toward the back of thebuilding, if she recalled correctly, that had been used by thepenthouse's housekeeping staff. That looked like the best bet for her.

The elevator was where she remembered. Lois boarded it and punched thebutton for the floor directly beneath the one where the other elevatorhad stopped. No use taking foolish chances, she thought. Now, if onlyno one decided to call this one for the length of time it took to get upthere.

Unfortunately, someone apparently did. The car slid to a stop on thethirtieth floor and Lois stood aside as a man pushing a janitor's cartboarded, and punched the button for the thirty-first floor with astained index finger. They went into motion again. The man didn't lookat her and didn't speak, which she thought was odd, until she noticedthe earphones and the fact that he was tapping out a rhythm on the pushbar of his cart.

He exited on the thirty-first floor and the car resumed its journey.Lois held her breath, praying for no more interruptions.

The Fates or the gods or somebody must have been with her, for at lastthe elevator slid to a stop at her destination. Lois stepped out,trying to look casual, but the floor appeared deserted. As a matter offact, she realized, the lower floor hadn't been heavily populated,either. Perhaps the fact that Lex had been arrested and many ofLexCorp's less reputable ventures had been exposed was contributing tothe situation; she didn't know, but she wasn't about to argue with hergood luck. Looking up and down the hall, she hesitated, trying todecide what to do next.

Well, now was probably a good time to call Clark and let him know whereshe was before he became frantic, and before she got in any deeper.

A few minutes later, she gave up. Clark wasn't answering his phone; hemust be busy, somewhere. Fortunately, there was another option. Shedialed her boss's phone.

Perry wasn't answering, either. Well, the best she could do was toleave a message on his answering machine. That done, she headed for thestairwell.

*******************When Clark charged into the Daily Planet Building, he could smell theteargas strongly. The stairs were crowded with people half-blinded bythe effects of the stuff, trying to escape the irritating fumes. Heflew up the stairwell over their heads, tracing the smell, but alreadysure where he would find it.

The newsroom was full of gas. The few employees who still remainedthere blundered about blindly, tears streaming down their faces.Someone had thrown open the windows and Perry crouched in the corner ofthe room closest to them with Jimmy, Jack and Cat, his jacket coveringtheir heads.

"Everybody get down!" Clark called. "I'm going to clear the gas!" Heinhaled deeply and released a blast of super-breath, blowing theirritating vapor out the windows.

It looked as if a hurricane had hit the place when he had finished, butat least the air was clear. He sped across the room to Perry and theothers, picked them up bodily and rushed them to the restrooms.

"Right, Superman," Perry choked out between coughs. Cat, her mascarasmeared beyond repair, stumbled into the ladies' room, with anincoherent stammer of thanks.

Clark rushed around the room, assisting the remaining five employees,then turned his attention to the tear gas container. It had stoppedspewing gas before he got here, but the container undoubtedly held thefingerprints of the person who had thrown it. With the toe of his redboot, he nudged it into a trash container and set the container on adesk, then picked up the phone and called William Henderson.

By the time he had finished his call, Perry White, his eyes still redand watering, had emerged from the men's room.

"Mr. White, what happened?" he asked, quickly.

Perry mopped at his face with a paper towel. "There was a woman. Icould have sworn it was Lois. She threw the canister in here, then justtook off."

"The double," Superman said. "Look Mr. White, I've called Henderson.The canister is in here. It may have this woman's fingerprints on it.Make sure he gets it, will you?"

"Sure thing, Superman. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Clark was gone on the word. He needed to get back toLois. He didn't feel safe leaving her alone; the campaign against her,whatever it was, seemed to be accelerating.

The Jeep was gone when he reached the sidewalk, and so was Lois. Clarkresisted the urge to tug at his hair. Where *was* she? He snatched outhis cellular phone. She had hers with her, he knew. At least he couldcontact her.

No tone greeted him when he flipped it open, and then he noted thelittle blinking red light. Low battery. In all the confusion of lastnight, he must have forgotten to charge it. It figured.

Well, he could call from the newsroom. He hurried back up the stairs.

Perry turned when he heard the door to the stairs open. "Clark!Where's Lois?"

"I don't know." Some of his frustration must have shown in his voice,for Perry grinned marginally.

"She took off again, huh?"

"Yeah," Clark said. "The battery on my phone is dead. I'm going tocall her from..." Suddenly aware of something that had been nagging atthe back of his mind, he broke off. "Where's Dr. Carlin?"

"She left about half an hour ago," Jack volunteered. "Why?"

"Arianna Carlin was married to Lex Luthor," Clark said. "She's been theoffice spy all along, and who knows what else." He reached for thephone.

"Great shades of Elvis," Perry said. "I knew she was off track withLois, but I can't believe she fooled us all like that."

"Don't blame yourself, Chief," Jimmy said. He picked up his copy of Dr.Carlin's book. "She wrote the book on it."

Clark stared at the title of the book, the phone receiver in his hand.With his new knowledge, inspiration struck suddenly. "That's it!"

"What is?" Perry asked.

Clark set the phone down and hurried to Arianna Carlin's office, Perryon his heels. A quick riffle through her files yielded what he waslooking for.

"Look, Chief. These are all Dr. Carlin's latest columns." He scannedthe first one, quickly. Now that he knew what to look for, the answerleaped out at him. "Aha! There it is!"

"What?" Perry asked.

"The reason for all the pro-Luthor, anti-Superman demonstrations. She'sused subliminal messages in her columns--look here. If you look at thefirst letter of every paragraph, it spells out 'Superman is Evil'."

Perry took the paper. "Well, I'll be..."

"Look at this one. 'Luthor Unjustly Accused'." He picked up severalmore. "'Man of Steel Wicked', 'Luthor Good', and 'Free Luthor'."

"I seem to recall seeing that one around," Perry said, drily.

"Yeah. No wonder twenty percent of Metropolis is suddenlyanti-Superman."

"Yeah, well, the good doctor's got a loyal following," Perry said. "Butwhat good will it do them? The courts aren't influenced by publicopinion."

"I don't know," Clark said. "That might not have anything to do withit. He could be planning something where he needs to distract thepolice force and Superman, or something. It wouldn't be hard to createchaos in the city with demonstrations everywhere."

"Yeah, it could be," Perry agreed.

"Chief!" Jimmy rushed into the office. "We just got a call! There's abomb in the building! It's going off in five minutes!"

"I'll try to get hold of Superman," Clark said. "Get out of here,Chief." He headed for the stairs at a run. In the background, thephone in Perry's office shrilled, but no one bothered to answer it.

**********************

Superman found the bomb in the copy room with two minutes to spare.Most likely, he figured, Arianna had planted it before she left, thoughfor what reason he didn't know. He flew it to a position well above thecity and ripped the timer loose, half expecting it to detonate anyhow,but it didn't. By the time he returned, William Henderson and two ofhis men had arrived in answer to their first call. The Inspectorexamined the tear gas container and the disarmed bomb with his usualdeadpan expression.

"You know," he said, "Mr. Luthor and his friends are starting to getunder my skin." He regarded the bomb sourly. "This is the third ofthese little tokens of affection we've been called about in the last twohours. I have the feeling it's going to be a long night. I should havelistened to my mom when she wanted me to take up bee keeping." Hebeckoned to one of his companions. "I want this dusted for prints.Let's at least see if we can give this 'double' a real name."

Employees were beginning to drift back into the building, now thatSuperman had certified it to be safe. Superman made a spectaculardeparture and returned a minute later as Clark. He headed for thephone.

"I'm going to call Lois," he told Perry. "I don't like this.Something's happening, all of a sudden...I have the feeling it'srelated."

"Yeah, me too," Perry said.

"Chief!" Jimmy burst out of Perry's office. "Lois left a message onyour machine! She was calling from Lex Tower, of all places. She saysshe saw the double and Dr. Carlin leaving the Planet and followed them.She needs CK to find Superman as quick as he can!"

Clark was already on his way toward the stairs.

Jack looked after him.

"Maybe we oughtta tag along," he said, quietly to Jimmy.

"After CK?" Jimmy asked.

"No, I was thinking, what if Luthor's been hiding out in Lex Tower allthis time and bossing the whole deal? Lois could be in trouble.Besides, we've been in on this since it started. I'd like to see theend of it. We might even be able to help."

"We could get some really good pictures," Jimmy rationalized. "And we*do* know where to go." He added, "My motorcycle's parked in thegarage."

Together, the two young men ducked through the door to the stairs.

*********************

Lois hurried, up the flight of stairs to the landing of the floor wherethe elevator had stopped. Of course, she cautioned herself, shecouldn't know for sure that this was where Arianna and the double hadgone, but Nigel St. John and a woman who closely fitted the descriptionof the other tail had come here. It seemed like a reasonable guess tomake.

She waited a few minutes, getting her breath back and gathering hercourage. In a way, she had walked into the lion's den. If Lex wasreally here, as she suspected he might be, and he got his hands on her,it could be very bad.

Carefully, she pushed the door open a crack and listened.

There was no sound of anyone nearby. From some distance away, she couldhear the murmur of a man's voice, but it was too muffled to discern thewords. Still that very sound sent a chill over her. She wouldrecognize that voice anywhere, the light baritone, and the rhythm of thewords that she couldn't quite make out.

Lex. She had done what the police couldn't. Lex had been hiding in hisown home all the time.

She strained her ears, listening for any other sound, but there wasnone.

Slowly and quietly, she pushed the stairwell door open.

The hall beyond was empty. After a moment, she removed her heeledshoes. The polished floor beyond would echo loudly if she were to walkon that in heels.

Very softly, she tiptoed down the hall, following the sound of thevoice.

It became clearer as she progressed. The transom of one of the doorsahead of her was open a crack, emitting light, and it was from this thatshe could hear the voice speaking. She forcibly quelled the prickle offear that ran over her scalp at the sound.

"...All set?"

"Yes, sir." That was Nigel St. John's voice.

"Very well. What about the Planet, Ms. Durant? I trust you followed myinstructions to the letter?"

"Yes, sir." The woman's voice was low and sultry. "I threw thecanister and got out right away. Dr. Carlin was waiting and picked meup outside. I'm sure no one had any idea I wasn't...her."

"Excellent. Arianna, my dear, your report?"

"I left the package in the copy room, Lex." Arianna Carlin's culturedvoice couldn't be mistaken. "Carlo reports he phoned in the threatshortly after Superman cleared the gas."

"And?" Lex's voice said.

"Carlo's report was necessarily sketchy, sir," Nigel St. John's voicereported, "however, Superman appears to have found it and disposed ofit. The police are still there. Apparently, everything worked well.Ms. Lane is believed to have been responsible for the gas. Hendersonarrived to take the bomb shortly thereafter. As predicted, the policeare now on the alert for more bombs about the city, as well."

Lois glanced uneasily around. She was in a horribly exposed positionhere. If anyone came along, or if they opened the door, they would seeher. On the other hand, she didn't want to miss what they were saying.

The door next to the one where Lex was holding his meeting presented atemptation. She might be able to hear them from there, too, and shewould have cover. Cautiously, she eased it open.

The room was empty--in fact, Lois suspected the whole floor was emptyexcept for Lex and his conspirators. She slipped inside and let theouter door close.

There was a connecting door to the one where Lex was holding hismeeting. She tiptoed over to it and plastered her ear to its surface.

Nigel St. John's voice was still speaking. "...Summary, sir, everythingis going according to plan."

"Very good." Lex's voice was composed. "And Ms. Lane?"

Arianna Carlin's voice spoke. "According to Perry White, her partnertook her to her apartment for some rest. We should be able to pick herup there when we're finished here."

Lois waited, frozen, as the footsteps of the five people exited into thehallway without and faded into the distance. Her brain was racing. Shehad no doubt at all about who the 'guest' was intended to be. If this"Ms. Durant" was her double, Lex must be planning to use her to trapSuperman.

As for the wine cellar, very few persons knew it existed. Lex had takenher to see it, once, and the incredible collection of fine wines in hispossession. It was reached one of two ways--by a door from the firstfloor, which was concealed behind a false wall, and from the penthouseitself via a private, concealed elevator.

Lois checked the hall. No one was visible. Quickly and quietly, shehurried back towards the stairwell. She needed to get to the penthouse.

********************

"Help, Superman!"

The woman's voice was muffled, but it came from Lex Tower. Clark,hurtling toward the huge building, x-rayed the penthouse from which thecry seemed to come, searching frantically for Lois.

There she was, bound to a chair in Luthor's study.

He scanned the area around her; it didn't seem to be an ambush, but hescanned the rooms surrounding the study for human occupants. Nothingstirred. Satisfied that no one waited for him, he entered through theFrench windows.

"Lois, are you all right?"

She squirmed against the ropes that held her, trying to spit out thehalf-dislodged gag, and he moved behind her to undo the bonds that heldher wrists.

Free, she reached up to pull the gag from her mouth.

"Thank you, Superman," she said clearly, and in that instant, herealized the truth.

It was a trap after all. This wasn't Lois.

Casually, she reached up to the locket that hung around her neck andsnapped it open.

Pain washed over him, and he felt his strength ebbing. He staggeredback, trying to put some distance between himself and the Loisimposter. The windows were only ten feet away. If he could make it,dive off the balcony, he would recover his strength on the way down.

She followed him. "Why, Superman," she said, "I'm hurt! I might eventhink you don't like me!"

Clark felt his knees buckle. Looking blurrily up at the double, hewondered how he could ever have mistaken this woman for his partner.Her face was the same, but the expression on it was completelydifferent.

It was at that instant that the wall seemed to open. Lex Luthor's voicesaid, "So, Superman, we meet again for the last time, I'm afraid. Ittook a lot for us to finally reach this point, but it was worth it." Heturned to the double. "You may go, Ms. Durant. Hold yourself ready forthe final stage. Your payment will be waiting for you as soon as you'vecompleted your part." He held out his hand and the double placed thelocket in it. She smiled coolly at Superman, turned casually and walkedaway, hips swaying.

"All right, Nigel, let's take care of this." Luthor moved to graspClark under the arms. St. John grasped his legs and together theylifted him.

Clark struggled weakly, but it was useless. He was hauled into what herealized belatedly was a concealed elevator, the doors closed and hefelt it begin to move downward.

The trip seemed to go on forever but, at last, the car stopped movingand the doors opened. Clark couldn't restrain a gasp of pain when thetwo men seized him again. He was dragged like a sack of potatoes acrossthe cold, cement floor toward--

He struggled, trying to resist, but it was like trying to swim inmolasses. His movements were weak and sluggish, and the two men had nodifficulty in forcing him into the cage that sat in the middle of thedank, dimly lighted room, a cage where the bars glowed with a sicklygreen light of their own.

Clark was pushed carelessly into the cage and rolled, gasping, to lie onhis face on the floor. The dreaded Kryptonite radiation was all aroundhim. There was no escape. He heard the clang of the cage door andlooked up to see Luthor locking the door, a pleased smile playing acrosshis mouth.

"Thank you, Nigel," he said, as if he were thanking his butler for themost common of services. He dropped the key into his pocket with agesture of finality. "See to it that Ms. Durant's payment is ready forher."

It was a nightmarish scene for Clark, lying helpless in the cage withhis greatest enemy standing at ease before him, speaking as if they werehaving a perfectly ordinary conversation.

"Ms. Durant will be found wearing Lois's clothes and jewelry, with justenough left identifiable that no one will be in doubt." Luthor smiled."Everyone will believe her dead, Superman, while Lois will be safe withme in my European fortress."

"No..."

"Oh, yes. I've won, Superman." Luthor's face kept its smile, but thehatred came through in his voice. "I'll continue to run my empire, andwith you and Kent gone there'll be no serious threat to my return. Kentwill die before I leave Metropolis, make no mistake about that, andeventually I'll be back. We won't see each other again, Superman. Iregret that. I wanted to watch you die, but one can't have everything.I do, however, want you to know how thoroughly you've lost."

"You'll never make it out of the city," Clark rasped, hoarsely."Henderson's looking for you. The police are on alert."

Luthor chuckled. "Oh no, Superman. The Metropolis police force isgoing to be far too busy. I've planned this down to the smallestdetail. As soon as Lois is in my hands, demonstrations will break outall over the city. Coupled with the occasional bomb threat, which hasalready begun, they'll be distracted. Tonight, there's a bigdemonstration scheduled in Centennial Park. When the bomb explodes inthe middle of that, the city's emergency services and the police willhave their hands full--far too full to waste time watching for me."With a final gesture, he hung the locket on a corner of the cage. "Inearly forgot. You'll want this, I'm sure." He turned toward theelevator. "Au revoir, Superman. Have a nice death."

The elevator doors opened and he stopped inside. They closed. Clarkwas alone.

**********************

The stairwell door to the penthouse was locked. On reflection, Loisrealized she should have expected that. She debated for a moment thewisdom of trying to pick the lock, but decided against it. Knowing Lex,he'd probably have an alarm on it.

Quickly, she retraced her steps. She was going to have to risk thestaff's elevator again. With luck, Lex wouldn't have any of hisservants up there at this point. He *was* a wanted fugitive, after all.They probably didn't even know he was here.

The soft "ding" of the arriving elevator, as the doors slid open,sounded more like a gunshot to her strained nerves. Lois stepped out ofthe car, praying that no one had noticed the sound.

There was no one here in the back rooms of the penthouse; a thin layerof dust on the various surfaces told her that the cleaning staff hadn'tbeen in the areas frequented by the help for some weeks. She tiptoedtoward Lex's study, where she recalled the elevator to his private winecellar was located.

"I don't care if you don't see the reason! If you don't do exactly asLex orders, you'll regret it, Marie! You're to dress in the clothingand wear the jewelry just as he said. Is that clear?"

The voice of Marie replied, a note of sarcasm in it. "All right, allright!" Marie must be Ms. Durant, Lois thought. The voice sounded likethat of the woman downstairs. "I'll do it, but I think you're a fool!There's no way on the face of the earth I'd work this hard to give theman I loved to another woman!"

The footsteps retreated. Lois waited until they had died away, thencontinued toward the study.

Lex's study was an elegant room, to say the very least. A thick, beigecarpet covered the floor; pieces of expensive furniture were set about,objets d'art decorated shelves and tables. A huge fireplace with an oakmantle dominated one whole wall, with an ornate set of fireplacetools--which Lois doubted had ever been used--sitting in front of it. Alarge, antique, rolltop desk and chair filled one corner next to theFrench windows, and a fully equipped wet bar took up another wall.

Lois paused to get her bearings. A chair sat in the middle of the room,with a tangle of ropes and a chewed and lipstick-smeared handkerchief onthe floor beside it. Across from it one wall stood bare except for anornately embroidered wall hanging and a pair of crossed Cavalry sabres.

The soft, swish of the arriving elevator alerted her, and she hurriedacross the room to duck behind the sofa. The doors opened, revealingNigel St John. Lois crouched down behind the sofa back and tried not tobreathe.

They had her Jeep? Lois bit her lip. If they had found her Jeep, theymust know she was nearby. Why hadn't this woman reported that to St.John? She held her breath, listening, but neither of the two saidanything more.

A minute or two later, the sound of the arriving elevator again reachedher ears. St. John's voice spoke. "Ah, sir, and how is our guest?"

"Not particularly comfortable," Lex's voice said. "You know my favoritequote, Nigel: 'Revenge is a dish best served cold'. Superman will die alonely death in the cellar, not to be found for a very long time.Almost enough compensation for the humiliation I endured for those twoeternal weeks in custody. Almost, but not quite. Tonight, Metropoliswill burn, Nigel."

"Yes, sir."

Lois remained frozen behind the sofa, listening as the three slowlydeparted, talking, her mind in a panic.

Clark was down there! Lex obviously had him trapped with Kryptonite,and it was up to her to get him out.

At last, the footsteps died away and Lois peeked around the sofa. Noone was visible. She needed to call for help; she should have done sobefore, but the fact that Clark would be coming had lulled her into afalse sense of security. But now, Clark was trapped, and she was oneperson on her own in this place. The next step was to call the police.With shaking fingers, she reached for the catch of her purse.

More voices were approaching. Lois held her breath, trying to beabsolutely silent behind the sofa while Arianna Carlin and Marie Durantheld another conversation outside the study door. Marie, it appeared,was still unhappy with Lois's choice of wardrobe.

"That doesn't matter!" Arianna Carlin's voice snapped at therecalcitrant young woman, "wear them! This is the last thing you haveto do, then you walk away with half a million dollars. Now, go on!"

"All right, all right," the other woman muttered in a sulky voice. Loislistened to her retreating footsteps, wondering if Murphy's Law wasdictating the presence of so many persons near the study at just thistime. The click of Arianna's footsteps in the hall outside approachedthe study and suddenly became muffled as she entered the room.

Lois froze. The woman stepped around the sofa and Lois saw the smallhandgun aimed directly at her.

"Stand up," Arianna said.

Lois stood.

"Walk over to the elevator and call it."

"What elevator? I--"

"Don't lie, Lois," Arianna said. "You know where it is. Do it now."

Lois glanced at the hand holding the weapon, then at Arianna Carlin'srigid face, and obeyed.

The elevator ride to the wine cellar was a long, slow one. Ariannastayed carefully out of reach, mindful of Lois's martial arts training.Lois glanced over at the psychiatrist wondering if she might have achance against the gun. Arianna smiled mirthlessly. "I wouldn't."

"Where are we going?" Lois asked, although she knew.

"You wanted to reach Superman, didn't you? I'm taking you to him."Arianna's expression was hard. "You and he can spend your last hourstogether." She laughed, bitterly. "Did you think I didn't see youfollowing? I knew you'd be here."

"I don't understand," Lois whispered. "Why?"

"Do you think I'd willingly give the love of my life to another woman?"Arianna said. "He married me, and I'm his until the day I die. Noother woman will ever take my place while I live."

"But...you two divorced."

"He divorced *me*--I didn't divorce *him*! You should have died thatday on the street, Lois, but Clark Kent saved you. It won't matter,though. You've been acting irrationally for days. You'll be found thevictim of a tragic suicide on the Hobs River Road. No one will everguess that the real Lois Lane is locked in the wine cellar of Lex Tower,left to die with Superman. Least of all, Lex."

The doors of the elevator slid aside, and Arianna waved her pistol."Step out."

Lois moved reluctantly out into the dimness of the wine cellar. Therewas a bright green blotch ahead of her in the dimness, which resolveditself into a cage with glowing, green bars. And inside it--

"It doesn't matter," Arianna Carlin said, and her voice was bleak andbitter. "Lex wants *you*. Your wishes don't come into it, any morethan the wishes of the other women he would have put in my place."

"Ohmigod," Lois breathed, "it was *you*! You killed them."

Arianna didn't answer. She reached behind her and pressed the callbutton.

Clark saw Arianna Carlin fire her pistol at Lois, and his cry of "No!"echoed through the sound of the gunshot and Lois's scream of pain.

The woman ignored him. She thrust the pistol into her purse and nudgedLois with the toe of her shoe. "Don't worry, Superman," she said. "Iwouldn't dream of letting Ms. Lane miss the sight of your last hours."

Lois moaned.

The elevator doors opened. Arianna took a step forward, and stopped.Through a haze of pain from the Kryptonite radiation, Clark saw her stepslowly backward. Then, from the lighted interior of the elevator, asnub-nosed pistol appeared, followed by a woman's hand and arm.

"Gretchen!" Arianna's voice was both shaken and outraged. "I canexplain!"

"I doubt it." The woman--Gretchen Kelly?--surveyed the scene with thefaintest of mocking smiles on her lips. "I didn't think you had it inyou," she said. She glanced sideways at Lois, who was trying to pushherself to her hands and knees. "I guess," she said, "this wouldexplain the deaths of Lex's other fianc

ées. I always wondered aboutthat."

Arianna lunged for her, and Gretchen's weapon spoke once. The echoesbounced deafeningly around the wine cellar. The blond woman looked downat her work with an appraising expression. "But you see, Arianna, it's*my* turn, now."

"Wait!" Clark gasped. "You can't leave us here!"

Gretchen smiled, gently. "I can," she said. "You know, Superman, ifyou hadn't interfered, Lois and Kent would both be out of the way, now.Then all I would have had to do would have been to report how Ariannahad killed Ms. Lane. This is so much less tidy, but in the end it willall work out. Goodbye, Superman." Amazingly, she smiled and blew him akiss. Then she stepped into the elevator, and the doors closed.

Clark hurled himself uselessly against the cage bars, with no resultsexcept a bruised shoulder.

The two looked at each other, then as one, turned and walked back towardthe motorcycle. Jimmy knelt, pretending to examine something on therear wheel as the three people wended their way through the massed carsin the lot, approaching the Jeep.

"No takers." Jack was careful not to look in their direction again."What are they doing, now?"

Jimmy, half shielded by Jack's body, risked a look. "The old guy lookslike he may be picking the lock," he said. "He's got the dooropen...he's fast, all right. The blond is getting into the passengerside and the double's getting in back..."

As he watched, the blond woman--wasn't the name Gretchen?--popped thehood, and the older man--St, John, Lex Luthor's butler, heremembered--bent over the engine.

"What's going on?" Jack asked.

"I think St. John is hot-wiring the engine."

"They're going somewhere in Lois's Jeep, and they don't have the keys,"Jack concluded. "I'd sure like to know how he's gonna beat the steeringwheel lock, but I guess he must know how. Maybe we should followthem--and Henderson might like to know about them, don't you think?"

They clambered back onto the motorcycle, and Jimmy revved the engine."You handle the call, okay?"

"Okay." Jack dug the cell phone out of his pocket and dialed PerryWhite's number. He figured the Chief could probably get a policeoperator to listen to him a lot faster than a seventeen-year-old kidcould.

Jimmy kicked the motorcycle into gear and they rolled forward toward theexit of the lot. "We'll pick 'em up after they pull out on the street.Get settled, quick. I have the feeling this isn't gonna take too long."

*******************

"Lois! Can you hear me?" Clark's panic-stricken voice echoed off thewalls of the wine cellar.

Lois rolled painfully over. Her leg was throbbing sickeningly withevery beat of her heart, and nausea made her want to retch, but she hadto move. She had to help Clark.

"Lois!" he gasped.

Through a swimming haze, she could see him on his knees inside thedeadly cage. Take your time, Lane, she cautioned herself. It isn'tgoing to do Clark any good if you pass out.

Arianna Carlin lay a short distance from her on the floor, breathing inharsh gasps, both hands clasping her middle, and even in the dim light,Lois could see the dark blood seeping between her fingers and pooling onthe cement.

There wasn't much she could do for the woman at the moment, injured asshe was. She had no idea whatsoever how to take care of such aninjury. Slowly, Lois pushed herself to a sitting position. Her headswam unpleasantly, but she persisted, taking deep breaths until hersurroundings steadied.

The bullet had penetrated the big muscle of her thigh, she saw. Inspite of the pain, she experienced a moment of annoyance at the ruin ofher best, wool skirt, but quickly dismissed the thought. She wasbleeding, but not too heavily. Evidently, the bullet hadn't hitanything immediately fatal. It sure hurt like the devil, though.

"Lois, are you all right?" Superman's voice was rough and breathlesswith pain. Lois cleared her throat, trying to keep her voice fromtrembling. She could feel the shock beginning to set in. She wasshaking all over, and she felt chilly with more than just the coldpresent in the cellar.

"Yeah," she said. Darn. Her voice was shaking in spite of herefforts. "She hit me in the leg."

"Oh, God..." Clark's voice was shaking, too. "Lois..."

"Superman," she said, trying to focus on the problem rather than thethrobbing in her leg. "What happened to the key?"

"Luthor put it in his pocket." Clark's voice had become a raspingwhisper, and as she watched, he collapsed slowly to the floor of thecage.

The Kryptonite radiation was killing him, she thought, and therealization of that fact shocked her out of the pain-induced lethargythat was beginning to creep up on her brain. Clark's life depended onher. She couldn't fail him now, of all times. She had to think of someway to open that door.

It was Arianna Carlin's faint moan that brought Lois's attention back toher. The psychiatrist's hands were slipping from her abdomen to falllimply to the floor. Clearly, the woman was in a bad way, but Loiscouldn't help her. Maybe if Clark were free he would know what, ifanything, could be done.

Arianna's handbag lay on the floor where it had fallen. Lois's eyespassed over it, then snapped back, suddenly alert.

Lex might have the key, but in Arianna's purse was another sort of keyin the form of a .32 calibre pistol. Gretchen Kelly must have been moreagitated than she let on to have overlooked that.

Lois squirmed across the floor, biting her lip at the pain that shot upher leg. Come on, Lane, she chastised herself, it's no worse than thebroken ankle you got on the office ski trip! You didn't let that stopyou, and this won't, either!

The purse strap was suddenly within reach of her fingers, and shedragged it over to her. Arianna didn't even stir as Lois pulled the bagout of her hand. The woman was unconscious.

The pistol was there where she had seen Arianna thrust it. She closedthe purse, looped the strap over her head and looked over her shoulderat the cage. The thing was at least fifteen feet away, probably themost difficult fifteen feet of her life, but she gritted her teeth andbegan to crawl.

She left blood on the cement, and she had to stop frequently to rest;the distance seemed to diminish with agonizing slowness, but she keptgoing. Gradually, the cage drew nearer. At times, Clark seemed awareof her, and at others, he appeared to lapse into semi-consciousness.Lois found herself mumbling under her breath, urging herself on.

She wasn't fatally hurt; she was pretty sure of that, although withoutsome kind of treatment she might eventually die of infection, orsomething. Whether they could even get out of the cellar was an openquestion, but first things first. Freeing Clark was the most importantthing right now.

The cage was four feet away, then three, then two. At last, she fellagainst it, gasping with the exertion. "Superman!" His dark head wasonly a few inches away from her. "Superman, can you hear me?"

At first, he didn't move, and for a horrible second she thought he mightbe dead. Then his eyes opened, staring directly at her. "Lois?" hemumbled.

"Yes." She reached through the bars to touch his face. "Superman,listen to me. Move over to the side of the cage. I'm going to get youout."

For a second he stared at her, then he pushed himself weakly to asitting position and scooted slowly to one side. Lois looked up at thelock and grimaced. This was going to hurt.

She pulled her good leg under her, then grasped the bars of the cage.Getting to one's feet was such a simple action, and yet this was one ofthe hardest things she had ever done. Her arms felt like jelly, and hergood leg was shaking violently as she pulled herself up inch byagonizing inch. Her head swam, and for a moment she thought she mightpass out, but she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Whenher equilibrium steadied, she pulled and pushed again, and suddenly shewas standing on one foot, grasping the glowing green bars with her handsfor balance, and panting hard. Her injured leg throbbed sickeningly,and she stood, leaning her forehead on the bars while the worst of itsubsided.

She didn't dare remove the purse strap from around her neck; if shedropped it she didn't think she'd be able to get back down and upagain. She opened the purse one handed, retrieved the pistol and drewit out. If this didn't work, they were done for.

She placed the muzzle against the lock and pulled the trigger.

The explosion was deafening in the enclosed space, and the pistol kickedback against her hand so hard that she almost dropped it, but when shelooked, she found that the lock's casing had a hole directly through it,and the metal around the hole was twisted and distorted. Carefully, sheput the muzzle against it again and fired once more. Then, her leg gaveway and she landed hard on her knees.

Pain exploded through the injured leg, and she cried out. Blacknessrolled over her like a blanket.

********************

Clark winced at the sound of the shot. Lois fired into the lock asecond time; then her leg gave way and she fell to her knees, slumpedforward onto the cement floor and didn't move.

"Lois!" Clark crawled to the cage door and reached out through the barsto touch her face.

She was breathing; he could tell that much. He looked up at the lock onthe cage door. Had Lois managed to disable it? There was only one wayto find out.

He pushed on the door. It rattled, but held.

Clark closed his eyes, trying to summon his strength. He could feel thedeadly Kryptonite radiation of the cage eating away at every musclefibre and nerve of his body. But Lois had battled pain and weakness ofher own to try and free him. Her sheer raw courage had beenawe-inspiring.

He inhaled a lung full of air and blew it out. It hurt to breathe, ithurt to move, but Lois hadn't let that stop her. Could Superman doless?

He grasped the green-glowing bars and hauled himself to his feet. Hishands burned where they came into contact with the poisonous substance,but it was a minor discomfort in comparison to all the rest. Thisbetter work, he told himself, grimly, because he didn't think he couldmanage this a second time. Every instant he spent in the cage robbedhim of a little more strength. He drew back and hurled himself at thedoor with all the force he could muster.

The broken lock gave and the door burst outward. Clark staggered out,caught his toe on Lois's ankle and fell forward onto the cement of thecellar floor.

**********************

"Lois?" Lois stirred at the familiar voice and the feel of a veryfamiliar hand stroking her cheek. "Lois, open your eyes."

She obeyed and looked up, frowning at the sight of his face above her.

"Lois?" Clark's voice said, "do you hear me?"

"You're upside down," she said.

A smile lit his face. "How do you feel?"

She was lying with her head in his lap, she realized, somewhatbelatedly. "Okay," she said, slowly. "My leg hurts."

"Yeah." His face lost its smile. "You have a bullet in it."

Memory came rushing back and she tried to sit up. "You got out of thecage!"

He caught her shoulders. "Easy there. I don't want you faintingagain."

"I never faint," she said, with dignity, but she sat up more slowly."Why are we still in here?"

"Because I can't open the door and the elevator doesn't work," he said."Gretchen Kelly must have deactivated it."

"Your powers..."

"I don't have any powers right now," he explained, quietly. "And Iprobably won't get them back as long as we're in the cellar. I canstill feel the Kryptonite radiation, just not as strongly."

They were at the foot of the steps leading out of the cellar, Loisrealized. Across the room, she could see the glowing, green of theKryptonite cage. Beside them on the cement, Arianna Carlin lay wrappedin Superman's cape.

Clark saw her glance at the woman. "I tried to stop the bleeding," hesaid, "but I think she's bleeding inside, and there's nothing I can doabout it."

"Oh." Cautiously, Lois lifted the edge of her skirt to check her ownwound. "You bandaged it? What *is* this stuff?"

"Um...I had to use your slip," he said, apologetically. "It was all Ihad."

"Oh," she said, again. "Thanks. Did you try the gun on the door lock?"

He nodded. "The door's solid, heavy metal. It didn't work."

"Oh," she repeated, looking around for inspiration. "My purse is overthere. The cell phone--"

He shook his head, and Lois saw the cellular phone lying on the firststep.

"The cellar walls are too thick," Clark said. "I tried."

"Great." She looked at his face in the greenish gloom of the cellar.He looked pale and tired, although that might be the effect of thesickly green light, generated by the cage, and there were lines of painthere that she hadn't seen before. "You're not giving up, are you?"

Clark gave her a tired smile. "Of course not. I'm sure we'll think ofsomething. I'm just out of ideas for the moment." He rubbed histemples. "Do you know anything about this place that might help? DidLuthor ever show it to you?"

"Once," she said. "I'm trying to think." She shivered, pulling hercoat more tightly around her shoulders. "I'm cold." Suddenly aware ofsomething, she looked harder at Clark in the gloom. He was shiveringand trying not to let her see it. "Cl--Superman, you're cold! Ofcourse you are; your powers are gone." She pulled the coat off. "Here,put this on!"

"Lois, I can't take your coat!"

"You don't have to," she said. "Here, let me sit next to you, put yourarms around me and we'll put the coat over both of us."

Clark obeyed, and for some minutes they sat in silence. "This isbetter," Lois said, at last.

"Much better," Clark agreed. "Does your leg still hurt?"

"Some." To tell the truth, it hurt a lot, but she wasn't about to tellhim so.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Right, some. We need to get you to adoctor."

"I'm game," Lois said. She looked over at Arianna Carlin's still form."She needs one even more. She's not going to make it, otherwise."

"I know," Clark said. "None of us will if we can't find a way out ofhere."

"I can't think of anything about..." Lois stopped. "Wait a minute."

"What?"

She grasped for the wisp of memory. "I remember...Lex and I were havingdinner in his study, one night. Asabi, that Hindu manservant of his wasthere, serving dinner. Lex wanted a bottle of his private stock. Iremember, Nigel St. John went down to get it...and he sent it up toAsabi in the dumbwaiter! Superman, there's a dumbwaiter here, too!"

The expression of despair on Clark's face had changed as she spoke toone of cautious hope. "Where is it?"

"I'm not exactly sure. It opens up in the study behind that wallhanging of his, about ten feet to the right of the elevator."

"Not too close. If it's a way out..." He was on his feet as he spokeand striding over to the wine rack. As he neared the cage, Lois saw himfalter and her heart jumped into her throat, but in spite of theradiation he stood close to the rack, leaning on a wooden barrel,examining the structure before him. Suddenly, he reached out and movedsomething she couldn't see, then pulled. Lois gasped as the whole winerack swung outwards, revealing behind it the dumbwaiter.

Lois stared at the small conveyance. He was right. Someone his sizecouldn't possibly fit in there. But...

"I think I could fit," she said.

Clark turned to look at her. "Lois, you have a bullet in your leg.*And* it's too dangerous."

"No more dangerous than staying in here until we all die," sheretorted. "If I take off my coat, I can fit. I'll take the cell phone,and when I get up there I'll call for help. Then all I have to do isstay out of sight until Henderson arrives."

They both looked at Arianna Carlin. Clark's shoulders slumped indefeat. "All right, but for Pete's sake, be careful!"

**********************

The dumbwaiter, Lois thought, as Clark helped her scrunch her way intothe extremely tight quarters, hadn't been designed to carry a hundredand ten pounds. She hoped the cable would hold.

The position which she was forced to assume--sitting on her heels, legsfolded under her, chin on her knees--made her glad for the stretchingexercises she performed in her tai kwan do class twice a week. Even so,it made her wounded leg throb almost unbearably. She gritted her teethand concentrated on her goal.

"Are you all right?" Clark asked, anxiously for the fourth time as hehelped her fit as comfortably as humanly possible--which wasn'tvery--into the tiny space, but she nodded.

"Yeah. Let's just get this over with, okay?"

"Right." He set the cellular phone on the surface next to her.

"Wish me luck," Lois gasped.

"Lois, are you sure you want to do this?" he asked again.

"Just hurry up, Clark. I can't stay like this long."

"Okay," Clark whispered. "I love you." He pressed the button.

********************

Lois closed her eyes as the doors slid shut and the motor of the littledumbwaiter whined, bearing her slowly upward. She tried not to thinkabout what would happen if the thing got stuck or the cable were tosnap.

The risk was acceptable, she kept telling herself. Clark had somehowmanaged the herculean job of dragging her away from the cage, far enoughthat the deadly radiation had affected him less, bandaged her andArianna up, then attempted to get them out of the cellar. He hadn'tfooled her, though. He'd tried to make it look easy, but she'd seen himstruggling to seem normal. The radiation was still present, stillharmful to him, and he was still in pain. She had no doubt that in timethe stuff would kill him. It was up to her to see that it didn't.

Once, she opened her eyes, but she might as well have not bothered. Itwas pitch dark in the cramped little space, and the air was rapidlygetting stuffy. Her leg hurt sickeningly, but she found it conversely awelcome distraction from the feeling of claustrophobia; of beingsqueezed from all sides.

She couldn't move in any direction. Her nose began to itch and shecouldn't get a hand around to scratch it. Then a spot on her scalpstarted, and the sensation traveled across the top of her head, down theback of her neck to a spot between her shoulder blades, and spreadacross her shoulders. Lois gritted her teeth, squeezed her eyes shutand counted the seconds.

At last, the dumbwaiter slid gently to a stop with a soft "ding". Loiswaited, frozen. If anyone checked the dumbwaiter, she was caught.Suddenly, she was no longer itching.

She listened, with every nerve and sense reaching out to try to discoverif someone waited beyond the doors and the elegant wall hanging thatcovered the wall of Lex's study.

Not a sound greeted her. Gradually, she moved the hand closest to thedoors and pushed.

The doors came open with a slight squeal of protesting hinges, butnothing happened. A single table lamp dimly lighted the room, andnothing moved within her range of sight. She began to wiggle, the fainttouch of claustrophobia still possessing her to get out of thedumbwaiter.

It took her a good five minutes, but at last she tumbled to the rug.The jar on her injured leg was almost too much, and she bit back a cryof pain, reminding herself that Clark's life depended on her not gettingcaught. Where was the best place to hide around here?

The sofa still seemed like the best candidate, in spite of the fact thatArianna had found her there. Arianna had been watching for her, afterall. No one else had any reason to think she might be here. Besides,she wasn't in any shape to do much traveling.

The whole area was quiet right now, which was both a good and badthing. If anyone was within earshot, she could be overheard. Lois bither lip, resolving to be as quiet as possible, and began to crawl.

The journey to the couch took her several, determined minutes, but atlast she reached the area of concealment behind it. Removing her cellphone from the front of her blouse, she started to dial 911 and paused.It was quite possible that, with the assault Lex had planned to launchon the city, that she might end up on hold. It had happened before,more than once. But if she could get hold of her boss, she knew he'dsee that help arrived as fast as humanly possible. With shakingfingers, she punched the speed dial on her cellular phone for PerryWhite's office. She only hoped he was still there. A glance at herwatch informed her that far more time had passed than she realized. Itwas past eight in the evening.

The phone in Perry's office rang twice. Lois held her breath, prayingthat Perry would answer. On the third ring, someone picked it up.

"Perry White's office. Terrence Wiederhold speaking."

The new intern, Lois thought. Terry was brand new at the office, andhadn't really sorted out precedence of unofficial rank among the staffyet. "Terry, this is Lois Lane. Get me Perry, fast!"

"Well, I don't know, Ms. Lane. He's talking to a couple of policeofficers right now. I don't think he wants to be disturbed."

"Terry!" Lois hissed at him, consciously aware that she must not raiseher voice, "Get me Perry, *now*! It's life or death!"

"Well..." Terry dithered. "I'm not sure...What?" The intern broke offand apparently covered the receiver with his palm. She could hear themurmur of voices, then, so suddenly that she started, Perry's voice wasbooming at her from the receiver.

"Lois! Thank Elvis, honey! Where are you?"

"Perry!" Lois whispered, "I may not have much time! Just listen! Ineed help! I'm in Lex Luthor's penthouse. He's been hiding out hereall along. You've got to tell Henderson!"

"Judas Priest!" Perry sounded stunned. "Are *you* all right?"

"I've got a bullet in my leg, but I'll live," Lois said. "TellHenderson to bring the paramedics, and tell them to hurry. AriannaCarlin is in Lex's wine cellar; she's been shot. I don't know how longshe's got left."

"I'll take care of it," Perry said. "Stay put, honey. We'll be thereas fast as we can." He hung up.

Lois shut off the phone and closed her eyes momentarily. She had nodoubt that her boss would do just as he said. The police were on theirway. All she had to do now was stay out of sight.

She looked around the room, trying to see if there was a better place ofconcealment. There really wasn't, she concluded, but then the fireplacetools caught her eye. The shiny, certainly never-used poker could be acrutch to lean on and--a small part of her mind whispered--a weapon ifshe was cornered. If Lex got hold of her, he wouldn't wait any longer.

The poker felt solid and reassuring in her hands when she picked it up afew minutes later. Lois braced the implement on the floor, got her goodleg under her and heaved. A few seconds later she was standing, leaningon the poker like a cane.

She glanced at her watch. Come on, Henderson! If you take too long,this could all fall apart! It had been at least ten minutes since shehad spoken to Perry. Surely, Henderson wouldn't delay once he knewwhere Lex was hiding out! Slowly, Lois made her way back to the couch,and then she saw what she had missed before.

A trail of blood marred the thick beige carpet where she had crawled.Not much, just a few streaks, but the marks showed up clearly on thepale surface. If Lex--or anyone--came in here, they would certainlynotice, and the trail would lead them directly to the couch.

Where else could she hide? Lois glanced frantically around the room.There was only one place that she could see that might offerconcealment. The heavy curtains, now drawn open on either side of theFrench windows near the rolltop desk, hung to the floor, and the viewthrough the glass showed blackness beyond. She limped toward thewindows, leaning heavily on the poker.

Cold radiated from the glass. The little balcony outside was unlighted,but the pale illumination from the room shone across it, and Lois couldsee that it was covered thickly with snow, so thickly that its surfacecould not be seen. Even the three-foot high iron balustrade that rimmedthe balcony was coated with frost, and flakes drifted lazily by in thedimness.

It was the sound of angry voices approaching from the hall beyond thatspurred her into motion a minute later. She ducked as quickly as shecould behind the curtains and flattened herself against the wall,leaning heavily on the poker. Her leg was throbbing, but the pain paledinto insignificance next to the danger of being caught.

"...Brainless fools! Where's Nigel?"

"Lex, I swear I don't know what happened!" Gretchen Kelly sounded veryshaken. "Nigel had it all set up in advance. We'd just turned onto theHobs River Road, and suddenly the police were all over us. I justbarely got away, and I don't know what happened to Nigel and Marie! Ittook me hours to get back here. They were everywhere!"

"Henderson's brighter than I gave him credit for." Lex's voice soundedcalm on the surface now, but Lois could hear the fury simmeringbeneath. "I want Lois picked up now, Gretchen. There's still time tosalvage something from this mess."

"Lex, she's not at her apartment. Carlo reported to me a few minutesago. We need to get out of here. The police could be here any minute."

"No." There was the sound of Lex's footsteps just beyond the door."Nigel knows not to talk, and Marie knows the penalty if she does. Ifthey had, the police would have been here by now. We have time. I wantLois found!"

Lois held perfectly still, trying not to breathe heavily. The knowledgeof the extent of Lex's obsession with her was frightening. The lives ofothers, to him, were unimportant, whether they were employees, or thewoman he claimed to love. All that mattered to him was what *he*wanted, what *he* desired. And if not for that night at the DailyPlanet back in October, none of what had happened later would have takenplace, and she would very likely be his fianc

ée, and still blind to hischaracter flaws--assuming that Arianna hadn't killed her by now.Silently, she thanked whatever chance had led to her discovery ofClark's alter ego that night, and from that to the knowledge of what Lextruly was. It had been humiliating to realize what a colossal fool shehad been, but in the end, she was glad it had happened. Please,Henderson, she implored silently, please hurry up!

"I'm not leaving without her, do you understand, Gretchen?" Lex's voicestill quivered with anger under a forced calmness that only served tounderline the fragile hold he had on his temper. "She's the reason Iorchestrated all this. I'm not going to throw it all away."

"Lex..." Gretchen Kelly's voice became pleading. "We need to leave. Wecan come back for her later when the search for you has died down."

"I said 'no' and I meant it, Gretchen." There was a note in Lex's voicethat made a chill run down Lois's spine. The apparent calm on thesurface of his words hid--not too effectively--a thin control oversheer, frustrated rage. Suddenly the overhead light blazed on and Lex'sfootsteps became muffled as he entered the study, followed by GretchenKelly's lighter steps. He crossed the room, she thought, and a momentlater glassware clinked. Lex was pouring something into a glass.

"Lex," Gretchen said persuasively, "I understand, believe me. But ifyou wind up in jail again, you'll never have the chance. Your firstpriority is to stay free."

"Quiet."

"Lex..."

"I said 'quiet'! What *is* that on the rug?"

"I don't--"

"It's blood." Lex's voice shifted position as he moved. "And it wasn'there before."

"Lois!" Lex shoved the small handgun he was holding back into hispocket. "How did *you* get here?"

Lois looked at Gretchen Kelly, who was staring at her, her face starkwhite. All she had to do, she told herself firmly, was to stall alittle longer. She had to keep Lex's attention for however long ittook. "Surprised to see me, Gretchen?"

"Arianna shot me," she repeated. "Lex, she killed your two fiancéesbefore, and she tried to kill me to keep me from taking her place." Shelooked at Gretchen. "Only, this time it backfired, because Gretchenwanted you, too."

"Lex," Gretchen began.

"Quiet," Lex said. "Go on, Lois."

"Gretchen shot Arianna. She tried to get rid of both of us without youfinding out."

"Lex!" Gretchen cried. "She's lying, don't you see?"

"She loves you, Lex," Lois said.

"But I love *you*," Lex said, starting toward her. "We'll get out ofMetropolis and find you a doctor." The look he turned on Gretchen bodedno good for the woman. "Your services are no longer required."

There was movement in the doorway behind and to Lex's left. Lois lookedup to see Inspector Henderson, followed by several uniformed officersenter the room, weapons drawn. She gave a quiet sigh of relief.

Lex turned. "How dare you come in here!"

Henderson held up a piece of paper. "Standing warrant, Luthor. Putyour hands up and keep them in sight."

"No!"

Lois jumped at the yell of sheer fury, lost her balance and fell with acry of pain.

"Don't move!" She thought the voice was Henderson's.

Lex lunged toward Lois. She covered her head, sure the officers wouldshoot, but they didn't. He didn't stop for the glass of the Frenchwindows, but crashed through them.

Lex put one leg over the railing, then the other. He teeteredprecariously on the brink. "Do you know this is the tallest building inMetropolis?" he said, almost conversationally. He met Lois's eyes, hisown burning with something she couldn't interpret. "It's the top of theworld," he said, and pushed away from the railing. Henderson's handgrabbed at the air, half a second too late.

***********************

"Lois..."

Lois, lying on the sofa where one of the police officers had guided herminutes ago, opened her eyes to see Superman slowly crossing the roomtoward her, helped solicitously by a young officer. They had left heralone while they dealt with the arrest of Gretchen Kelly and theunpleasant details following Luthor's suicide. Lois could only begrateful. She had been afraid of Lex, but watching him jump from thebalcony right in front of her had left her shaken. Perry White enteredthe room behind Superman, his face unusually haggard.

"Perry...Superman," she whispered.

Clark crossed the room and seated himself on the edge of the sofa. Hesaid nothing, only reached out to grasp her hand. Perry followed him.Her editor cleared his throat.

"The paramedics are on their way," he said. "How are you, honey?"

"I'll be okay," she said. She looked at her partner, at the lines offatigue on his face, and his torn and dirty costume. "How's Arianna?"

"They took her out a few minutes ago," Superman said. "They don't knowif she'll make it or not."

For the first time since this ordeal had started, Lois felt tears beginto leak from her eyes. Superman reached out and put his arms aroundher. "I'm sorry, Lois. I wish I could have stopped it."

She nodded, holding tightly to him. "Don't let me go," she whispered.

"I won't." His voice was muffled.

Lois was barely aware of the study doors closing as Perry and the youngofficer quietly left the room.

*********************

Perry closed the door behind him. The young officer glanced at him, andPerry read anger in his expression.

"Who would have thought someone could do that to Superman," he said."It makes me want to..." He bit off the words. "I'm sorry, Mr. White.It's just that he's done so much for all of us, especially the police.He saved my partner's life a couple of months ago."

Perry nodded. "I know," he said. "I feel the same way. But Luthor'sdead, and it all worked out in the end."

"Yeah." The man nodded soberly. "One thing's for sure. If anybodyasks me about this, I didn't see anything. It's the only thing I can doto thank him, y'know?"

"I know," Perry said. "I think Superman would appreciate that."

"If he asks, tell him I said so."

"I will." Perry inclined his head in the direction of the elevators."Here comes your boss."

Henderson was coming down the hallway toward them. "Perry, can I have aword with you?"

"Sure."

"Jim--" Henderson took the young officer aside and spoke quietly to himfor a minute. The young man nodded.

"Yes, sir. No problem."

"Good. Head on down and report to the sergeant, now."

"Yes, sir." Jim took off at a half trot. Henderson turned to Perry.

"Lois really came through for us," he said as a preliminary. "You caneven tell her I said that--this time."

"I will," Perry said, wondering where the conversation was headed.

"Those two kids of yours did a good job, too. You might pass thatalong, when you get the chance."

Henderson thrust his hands into his pockets and regarded the toes of hisshoes. "What's the Planet going to report about Superman?"

"Why?" Perry asked, bluntly.

"I need to know. Only two other cops, you and I saw that situation inthe basement. My men have already agreed that they didn't see anything,and we were careful to get Superman up here without witnesses, but ifthe Planet reports it..."

"You're welcome," Perry said, for the second time in ten minutes. "I'mgoing to have a talk with Terry first thing in the morning, and set himstraight on a few points."

Lois smiled faintly. "Just as well. You probably won't be as rough onhim as I would."

"Probably not," Perry said. "You get well, now."

As he moved back, Superman bent over her for a moment. "Thank you,Lois. Take care of yourself."

"I will, Superman," she said.

The two paramedics wheeled her out.

Perry watched as they proceeded down the hall, then happened to glanceat Superman. The Kryptonian was watching Lois's progress as well, andsomething in his expression caught Perry's attention. He'd thought atfirst that Superman's treatment of Lois had been prompted by concern forher, and by the friendship he'd never tried to hide for the Planet'sstar reporter, but now he wasn't so sure. Perry was not unacquaintedwith the ways of men and women, and he'd have been willing to bet hislast dollar at that moment that Superman's concern for Lois was promptedby something far deeper than simple friendship. In fact, he'd seenexactly that same expression very recently on someone else, inconnection with Lois.

He looked away quickly, before Superman noticed the fact that he wasstaring, then back. It couldn't be, could it?

"Can I give you a lift anywhere, Superman?" he asked conversationally.

Superman hesitated, and Perry continued, "Henderson and I have alreadytalked about what we saw downstairs. We both agreed it didn't happen."

Superman smiled. "Thank you, Mr. White. I appreciate that."

He was listening more closely, now. Superman's voice was familiar--veryfamiliar--and not just because Perry had heard him speak on numerousoccasions. It was the voice of someone he knew well.

"I can drop you off at Kent's place if you like," he continued. "I knowhe's a friend of yours."

"That would be nice of you, Mr. White," Superman said. "Thank you."

Polite to a fault, Perry thought. As always.

As they headed for the elevator together, Perry was thinking hard aboutwhat he might have discovered. If it was true, Superman obviouslydidn't want the rest of the world informed about what he did when hewasn't in costume--which made a lot of sense from Perry's point ofview--but he would willingly wager a considerable sum of money on theprobability that Lois knew. Well in that case, as far as Perry Whitewas concerned, he hadn't learned a thing tonight. This could go in thesame "never happened" file as that mysterious, green-glowing cage in thebasement of Lex Tower. The paramedics who had carried Arianna Carlinout might wonder about it, but he had no intention of enlightening themor anyone else about its purpose. Metropolis and Perry, himself, owedthe Man of Steel far too much for him ever to wish the super-hero anyharm. Superman's secret was safe with him.

Clark would never need to know.

**********************

Christmas Eve at the Kent farmhouse was something new for Lois. Theliving room was decorated with garlands and holly; a manger scene on aside table sported old-fashioned china figures some of which, Lois saw,had been broken at one time and carefully glued back together.

She was sitting in the big armchair in front of the brick fireplace, herbandaged leg propped up on a footstool, and Clark had just brought in atray of eggnog.

The four of them had gone out earlier to secure the "perfect" Christmastree. Clark had assured her it was a Kent family tradition and even shehad to participate, and therefore Clark would undertake the "chore" oftransporting her in his arms, even though she assured him that she wasperfectly capable of walking on her own. Somehow, she thought he didn'treally regard it as a chore at all, judging by the wide smile on hisface the entire time.

When they'd gotten the tree home, the three Kents had proceeded todecorate it, with Lois sitting back in the armchair offering advice, andshe was given the honor of placing the star at the top, courtesy of alift from Clark.

Dinner was sandwiches and salad, given that the big meal was for thenext day, and then Clark and Martha brought in crackers, cheeses andeggnog.

Lois accepted the bright red mug with the pattern of green holly leavesaround it, and Clark passed the others around to his parents. He tookthe last one himself and settled down in the chair next to Lois's. Shesaw him glance at the fireplace, where the fire was beginning to diedown, and caught a flicker of red in his eyes. The flames blazed upsuddenly with a blast of warmth. He took a swallow from his mug. "Thedishes are done," he informed his mother.

"Well," Clark said, "the double, Marie Durant, turned out to be wantedfor embezzlement, so she's going to be tried for that and for conspiracyin Luthor's plan. Gretchen Kelly is charged with conspiracy andattempted murder. Arianna..." He looked sober. "Arianna is still onlife support. She's not expected to recover. If she does, she'll betried for murder and attempted murder."

"And this St. John person?" Martha asked.

"I don't think there'll be any trouble there, either," Lois said. "Itturns out he was more than Lex's Mr. Belvedere. He was a member of HerMajesty's Secret Service, gone bad. The British are very interested ingetting hold of him."

"I'll bet," Jonathan said. "I'm just glad it's over."

"What happened to the Kryptonite cage?" Martha asked. "I don't reallylike the idea of it sitting around for anyone to take."

"Superman has saved the lives of a lot of his men," Lois said. "He wasreturning the favor." She added irrelevantly, "He even got my antiquejade ring back. He brought it to me while I was in the hospital. Mariewas wearing it when they caught her."

"Then I guess that settles that," Martha said, with an air of finality.

"I guess it does," Clark said. He smiled at Lois who returned thesmile.

In the days following Lex Luthor's suicide and the arrest of hisconspirators, Lois had found herself contemplating Clark whenever shethought he wasn't looking. It had been he who saved her that horribleevening. To save his life, it had been necessary to push herself tolengths to which she might not have gone if the only life at stake hadbeen her own. She'd known he was willing to die for her; now she knewthe reverse was also true. But most of all, she knew beyond a doubtthat living without him wasn't something she would ever want to do.

Where had her apprehensions about marriage and commitment gone, shewondered, and answered the question with the same thought. They hadvanished when she had discovered that the commitment had already beenmade irrevocably, without her even realizing it. She would have to lethim know--soon--that he could ask her the question she knew very well hewanted to ask, but had refrained from asking for her sake.

"Lois?" Clark asked. "Are you all right?"

"Huh?"

"You kind of zoned out on me."

"Oh. I was thinking about something."

"If it was about some other guy, I think I'll be jealous," Clark said.

"You don't need to be," she said, and squeezed his hand firmly. "I wasjust thinking that those things I told you, about commitment? I thinkI've made up my mind."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

Martha glanced quickly at her husband. "Jonathan, it's almostnine-thirty and we have a big day tomorrow. I think it's about time weturned in. Goodnight, kids."

The elder Kents retreated up the steps; Martha, Lois noticed, winked atClark as she went past, and had to smother a grin.

"Wow, that was fast," she said, when she heard the bedroom door close.

Clark smiled. "They know when something's important." He hesitated,then seemed to gather his courage. "I know it hasn't been long,Lois--but do you think you've gotten to know the real me well enough,now?"

She nodded. "I think I did all along. I just didn't *know* that Iknew."

In a movement so fast she would have missed it if she had blinked at thewrong time, he was out of the chair and on one knee before her. Withanother blurringly fast motion, he produced a ring box and opened it,revealing a gold ring with a glittering diamond. "In that case, do youthink you're ready to wear this, yet?"

"Clark! How long have you had that?"

He grinned. "I bought it back in October and I've been carrying itaround ever since--I figured if the chance came, I wanted to be ready."

She hesitated, searching his face. "Are you *sure* you want me, Clark?I'm not the easiest person to get along with, you know. I'm prickly,and pushy and obsessive, and..."

"And the only woman on the face of the earth I'd ever want to spend mylife with," he said. "I've been happier the last nine weeks than I'veever been, and I want that to go on--if you think you can put up with meand my weird double life. Do you think you can?"

For an instant the old doubts resurfaced, only to vanish in the light ofher new knowledge. She, too, had been happier over the past weeks thanshe had ever been--not because Superman was in love with her, butbecause Clark Kent was. Her country boy from Krypton was the man shehad never believed she would meet. If she told him she needed moretime, she knew he would give it to her. But she didn't.

"If you're sure, Clark, then I am, too," she said. "Your 'weird doublelife' doesn't scare me because it's part of you, and you're who I love.What scares me is the thought of being without you. I'd like to wearyour ring."

He slipped it onto her finger. Together they regarded it for a longmoment. At last Clark spoke.

"Merry Christmas, Lois."

"Merry Christmas, Clark," she replied.

The End.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.